Thread: Illegal aliens gone by the year 3514

If the twenty seven million illegal aliens number remained frozen it would only take until the year 3514.

27,000,000/17,911 = 1507

1507+2007 = 3514

Year 3514



http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...ation0603.html

Raids targeting fugitives swoop up illegal residents

Daniel González
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 3, 2007 12:00 AM
As a spotlight shines on lawmakers debating immigration reform, federal officials are quietly, methodically rounding up and sending home illegal immigrants who have defied orders to leave the United States.

Hundreds are arrested each week.

Deportations have become daily occurrences in Phoenix and cities across the country as the federal government ramps up efforts following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to remove some 600,000 deportation scofflaws, including about 5,800 in Arizona.
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The deportations are "targeted" operations, immigration officials say, that place the highest priority on arresting criminal fugitives who pose a threat to public safety or national security.

Many other illegal immigrants, who aren't under deportation order, also are getting snapped up in the dragnet.

Illegal immigrants often have ignored orders to leave, knowing the chance of anyone looking for them was practically zero.

But in the first eight months of this fiscal year, fugitive deportation operations have netted 17,911 illegal immigrants, compared with 1,901 in all of fiscal year 2003, when the government began its crackdown. In Arizona, it has netted 312 illegal immigrants since Oct. 1.


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Jorge Garay was about to jump into the shower the morning deportation officers arrived to take him away.

A year and a half ago, a judge ordered Garay to leave after an extreme-DUI conviction. He never did. So Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers went looking for him.

The deportation officers also arrested Garay's wife and 19-year-old son. They weren't the targets, but they were in the country illegally.

That forced the Garays to make a decision on the spot: Bring their 12-year-old daughter, a U.S.-born citizen, with them to Mexico or leave her behind with relatives.


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Despite the crackdown in deportations, the immigration system remains a flashpoint.

An estimated 12 million immigrants are living illegally in the United States. Lawmakers are debating a controversial reform bill that would allow many illegal immigrants to stay in the country legally. But those who didn't leave when they were ordered to would not be eligible to stay except in extreme circumstances.

The stepped-up fugitive operations have drawn condemnation from immigrant advocates and civil rights groups. The deportations, they say, are terrorizing communities and tearing apart families at a time when a possible legalization program is pending.

"I don't know what justifies them rounding up everyone in the household," said José Robles, director of Hispanic Ministry for the Phoenix Catholic Diocese.

Although the government says criminal fugitives are the priority, 86 percent of the deportation scofflaws caught this year did not have criminal records, according to an Arizona Republic analysis of ICE data. What's more, of the total number of illegal immigrants caught nationwide this year as part of ICE's fugitive operations, 7,434 - or 42 percent - were "collaterals": undocumented immigrants such as Garay's wife and son who were caught during a search for someone else. Of those, 1,547 - or 79 percent - did not have criminal records, data show.

Immigration officials defend the deportations, noting that they let families decide whether to leave behind loved ones who are eligible to stay.

They say they are obligated to arrest any illegal immigrants they encounter. To do otherwise would reflect poorly on the system. Even worse, they say, it could risk letting criminals, or possibly even terrorists, slip through their fingers.

Groups opposed to illegal immigration, including Phoenix-based United for a Sovereign America, say the deportations are long overdue after years of lax interior enforcement. Although it may be prohibitive to deport all 12 million, removing a percentage of them, along with other enforcement measures, may be enough to spur others to voluntarily go home, the groups say. The approach is known as "attrition through enforcement."

Immigrant advocates in Phoenix say they are hearing stories about undocumented families going home because they fear immigration officials will come and arrest them. But some advocates are telling them to dig in their heels.


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ICE deportation officers gather before dawn to review their "targets" for the day. The teams go out early, when absconders are most likely to be home, said Cory Ray, supervisor of ICE's fugitive operations team in Phoenix.

Ray's team was launched in July. So far, ICE has created 55 such teams nationwide. The agency plans to add 20 more by year's end.

On this particular day, the first target was Garay. Ray's team had determined he was living on Pasadena, near 42nd Avenue. After strapping on bulletproof vests and sidearms, team members headed out in two cars and two minivans, all unmarked. Outside the beige stucco house, the team spotted Garay's white Buick. Three officers knocked on the front door. Two stood watch in the alley.

The officers brought out Garay's son, Luis, first. He was searched and handcuffed, then placed in one of the minivans. Officers then brought out Jorge, followed by his wife, Maria. Their daughter Diana, a sixth-grader and U.S. citizen, was left with an aunt, Rosa Garay, who is a legal permanent resident. The girl stood outside with her face buried in her hands, weeping as officers drove away with her family.


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The deportations may seem harsh, but they are in response to years of lax enforcement, said Rosemary Jenks, director of governmental relations at NumbersUSA, which supports stricter immigration laws.

"You can't have a society based on the rule of law if the rule of law doesn't apply," she said. "These are all people who were given their day in court, they were allowed to make their case (to stay in the country) and were denied and ordered to leave. If they are (still) here illegally, that is the risk they face."

Jenks said ICE has only begun to scratch the surface.

But some immigrant and civil rights advocates are asking the government to halt the deportations.

The deportations most likely would increase significantly under the proposed immigration reform bill.

"It's an enforcement-heavy bill," said David Leopold of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights and advocacy group in Washington, D.C., said he doesn't object to deporting violent criminals. But most of the people getting caught have no record.

"It's cruel and mean to be deporting immigrants who have done nothing wrong other than a misdemeanor violation of our immigration laws," he said. "It's also not really in our self-interest to do this because the reality is, our economy is pretty dependant on these workers."

Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said the deportation operations often rely on racial profiling to question people about their immigration status.

"It's an extremely coercive environment. People are frightened, and they are being intimidated into answering questions," she said. "It's also racially discriminatory. They have deportation warrants for some people and they are questioning others solely on how they look or their skin color or their accent, and that's totally unconstitutional, even in the immigration context."


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The deportation team drove to a gated apartment complex on 83rd Avenue, looking for another on the morning's roundup list. The man who answered the door said the woman they were looking for didn't live there.

The officers noticed the man spoke only Spanish, so they asked where he was born.

Officers said that when he answered Jalisco, Mexico, they had probable cause to ask if he was in the country legally. He couldn't produce papers to prove that he was.

Officers then questioned his wife. She showed her passport, proving she was a U.S. citizen. And she produced a U.S birth certificate for their toddler son.

The man was taken away.

"It's just bad luck for him," Ray said later. "If it had been the apartment next door and we knocked on the door, he wouldn't have been caught. That guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."


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The ACLU has filed two lawsuits in connection with deportation operations. In one, the ACLU claims immigration officials wrongfully detained a 6-year-old boy after raiding a home in San Rafael, Calif. He turned out to be a U.S. citizen. The other claims immigration officials violated the constitutional rights of several illegal immigrants following a raid in New Bedford, Mass., that netted 200 people.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said immigration officials shouldn't be criticized for doing their jobs. The Washington, D.C., think tank advocates more restrictions on immigration.

"It's the illegal immigrants who created this situation," he said. "These are people who snuck into the country illegally or overstayed their visas. That's the bottom line. If you are deportable, you are deportable. End of story."


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Garay, who repaired aluminum wheels for a living, was deported to Mexico.

His wife was granted a voluntary return and left with her husband. They are living in Ciudad Juarez.

Their son requested an immigration hearing. He is being detained in Eloy while relatives try to raise money for his bond.

Their daughter is still with her aunt in Phoenix.

"She is sad. She is crying every day," her aunt said. "She doesn't want to go to Mexico, but she wants her mother back."



Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8312.

These raids seem to serve two purposes.

One, so the government can pretend to care about enforcement while they carny sell us on a new comprehensive immigration bill. The only parts of any of the other comprehensive bills they implemented were the amnesty and gravy parts for the illegal aliens. They never do get around to the enforcement parts of the bills. Except as some sort of political maneuver.

Two, seems to be to help establish sanctuary cities.


This is what has happened over and over in regards to the immigration raids in California.

1. ICE will hold small raids.

2. The newspapers will start in with the poor illegal aliens being to scared to take their children to school.

3. Public meeting for the illegal aliens will be organized. In cities around the San Francisco Bay Area the police were involved coaching the illegal aliens how to circumvent the law. Many of the meetings were held in Spanish.

4. The honest people got upset and formed their own groups. Many visited their city councils. This is the link to one of the news stories of the aftermath.

http://www.marinij.com/ci_5569114

5. There will be proposals of making the city a sanctuary for illegals!


I'm sorry if I have offended any of you and I do wish you all the best with upcoming events.

P.S. Many in the police departments here are glad to see us stand up to what has been happening to our nation. I’m sure they will be where you are to.



Many honest people are forming groups in their cities and visiting their local city council meetings.

1 Find a place for a meeting. Libraries or coffee shops are good.

2 Let your local news in on what you are trying to do. Patriots or Minutemen are good key words that will let others know what your group is about.

3 Hold a meeting. Get a small group of people elected to help keep things organized and your group functioning.

4 Visit your local city council or other public meetings and let them know how you feel.

Rallies are a good way to let people in your area know what your group is about. Let the police know when you have a rally planned. To keep your group going it can be helpful to have a flyer ready to let people know of your next meeting or rally.

P.S Work on building up your contact list.